What He Knows
by crystal tears
Summary: Is Relena the Queen of the World? Or is she -- something -- else....? I promise promise I'm working my hardest on this... But reviews are helpful... ^_~
1. Prologue

It all started with the dream, an endless void of swirling black. He could only remember bits and pieces, but they were more than enough to scare him-and he wasn't easily scared. There were flashes of light, crimson streaks. There were two eyes of red and gold that sent shivers down his spine. And, seeming quite out of place, there was Relena.   
  
…Relena… The Queen of the World. The perfect one. What was her place amongst the figments of his nightmare? If she was to die soon… No. That thought couldn't be; that thought had to be pushed back…back into the furthest recesses of his mind. She couldn't die yet, not Relena. The world still needed her.   
  
However, despite his hardest, he couldn't keep her away from his thoughts. It wasn't so much the fear of her dying, not exactly. It was something else, something in her expression. It was that cold and distant look she had had, as she turned around, her blue eyes soulless. And that smile…the smile that wasn't… a twist of her lips that somehow seemed abnormal, inhuman.   
  
For some reason he couldn't place, when she'd turned around and looked at him, she had sent fear shooting down him; fear that overtook even the fear of the ghostly eyes that had belonged to the Beast. And he wasn't easily scared. 


	2. Chapter 1

Relena shot out of bed, her eyes wide and her breathing heavy. Anxiety gnawing at her, she glanced at her bedside clock. 5:13 a.m. She took in a shuddering breath, closed her eyes, and concentrated on her breathing. As soon as her breaths were coming evenly again, she reopened her eyes. The anxiety came back almost at once.   
  
The clock… It was 5:13. 5:13 of Friday the 13th. 


	3. Chapter 2

The morning was especially beautiful that day, forming quite the irony considering the date. The sun hung over the trees, shining down brilliantly. The mansion standing on the hill was struck most by the sunlight pouring through every crack to brighten the rooms.   
  
Only one room wasn't affected. Even though that side of the house was facing the sun, the room seen from outside was pitch black. Blinds on the window filtered the sunlight, leaving the area inside dark. Only a few strips of light were allowed to enter the room. Inconveniently though, all the light that penetrated fell on the occupant's face.   
  
Heero woke slowly, rejoining the world of the awake sunbeam by sunbeam. After a few tries, he realized he wouldn't be able to fall asleep again. He blinked blearily a few times in hopes of banishing the last remnants of sleep from his eyes since he wouldn't be sleeping anymore anyways. He was still trying to separate dream from reality when Duo burst into the room, slamming the door open. "'Morning, Heero!" he said cheerfully, bounding over to the window and pulling the blinds up, letting the sunlight flood the room.   
  
Heero groaned as the light momentarily blinded him. As soon as he regained his sight, he glared at the over-energetic Maxwell, who had proceeded towards his desk. Duo noticed the notebook he kept on the tabletop and picked it up. "I didn't know you kept a diary…"  
  
"Duo…"  
  
Duo looked at Heero, noticed the glare, and immediately put the notebook back down. "Right." He walked over to the door. "I'll be going then, eh?" He headed out. A few seconds later, he was back. "Oh yeah, Quatre says to hurry up and get downstairs. We're leaving soon." Heero's glare turned questioning. Duo grinned. "Ah. You forgot, didn't you?" Heero realized he was suddenly developing a very bad headache. "Today's the convention. It's to be held at the new Great Hall, down by the place we went yesterday. Now you remember?" There was definitely a headache.   
  
Heero groaned again, softer this time. Duo smirked. "So hurry up! Otherwise, we're gonna be late." Then he frowned thoughtfully. "Although that might not necessarily be a bad thing…" Still looking rather thoughtful, Duo left the room. Heero closed the door behind him.   
  
His headache was starting to become annoyingly persistent. 'A convention…I don't think I'll be able to sit through it…' Heero sighed and leaned his head against the wall. 


	4. Chapter 3

Quatre smiled as Heero walked into the kitchen. "Good morning!" he said, almost as cheerful as Duo had been earlier.  
  
"Hn."  
  
Trowa looked up from his seat on the counter. His green eyes met Heero's blue ones, and the look in them was easily readable. Convention…my God. Quatre was oblivious to the other two's contempt for the social later on. "We're leaving for the Great Hall early today." A rather murderous look crossed Trowa's face. "Relena's going to be there, and there's something I need to ask her."   
  
At the mention of Relena's name, Heero paled. He had no idea why, but he found he was suddenly shaking. He leaned back against the wall, hoping that the others wouldn't notice. His hope was dashed. Quatre almost immediately noticed and a worried look crossed his face. "What's wrong, Heero? Do you feel alright?" Quatre glanced at Trowa, looking for help from the silent boy. Trowa shrugged and Quatre turned his gaze back to Heero, who was starting to sweat. "If you don't feel okay, you don't have to go… You shouldn't go, actually." Heero shook his head.   
  
"I'll go."  
  
"Are you sure?"   
  
"I'm fine. I'll go." Heero took in a deep breath. The pounding in his chest soon ceased and he straightened, pushing away from the wall. Quatre stared after him as he left the kitchen.   
He turned to Trowa. "I hope he's alright…"  
  
"He's fine." Personally though, Trowa doubted that Heero was 'alright'. Normally, the pilot would have taken any excuse to stay home and not go. He seemed just about ready to make up such an excuse when Relena's name had been mentioned, and then he'd lost color but was suddenly determined to go. Trowa shook his head. There was no figuring him out… 


	5. Chapter 4

The drive down to the new Hall wasn't long, and before they knew it, the five boys were piling out of the car. Duo pushed his cap back, grinning as he looked around. "Wow, but they've made some improvements!"  
  
"Of course. It's beautiful, isn't it?" They turned around, startled by the feminine voice. Heero could feel his heart start to hammer again as he gazed into the eyes of Relena Peacecraft. She smiled at him. "Hello." Goosebumps crawled up his arm.  
  
"Hello." His voice was the usual monotone, but he knew she knew he was nervous. It really wasn't too hard to tell.  
  
Relena's smile seemed to broaden. "You're early, you know. The convention doesn't start until 2."   
  
Quatre nodded. "We know. I just had a few things to talk to you about, and so we all came here early." He glanced at Duo. "Besides, Duo wanted to look over the new installments."  
  
"Of course." Relena nodded her head regally. "If you'd like, I could have someone show you around. They've already given me a tour…quite impressive."  
  
Duo grinned. "Yeah, that sounds great!" He turned to his right. "Doesn't it, Wu-man?"  
  
Wufei scowled at him. "Don't call me 'Wu-man', and no it doesn't."  
  
Duo made a face. "You…you…" He sputtered unsuccessfully for a few seconds, and then finally gave up. "You Wu-man, you." Wufei glared.  
  
Quatre, getting rather amused, decided to break up the 'fight' before anything actually happened. "We'd love to, Relena. Thank you so much for the offer."  
  
Relena beamed. "Of course."  
  
"I'm not going." Heero was standing sullenly by himself, a little ways off from the group. Relena looked at him, surprised.   
  
"Why not?" He shrugged. "But don't you want to see the place?" He shrugged again. "You're missing out…"  
  
"Hn." 'There's not much to miss out on, not in this place…' He turned his head, surveying the block. "I'll walk around myself."   
  
A flash of what seemed like anger appeared in Relena's eyes, but quickly faded as she smiled again. "Alright, Heero. Whatever you'd like." He narrowed his eyes. He was getting a strange feeling, though he couldn't place what it was, and it made him wary. She smiled again. "Then we'll be going now. Be sure to get to the hall on time!" She turned around and started walking the other way with the others following.  
  
Then Heero realized what it was. Relena's smile hadn't reached up to her eyes. 


	6. Chapter 5

Before he knew it, his watch alarm beeped 1:45. Heero slid off the tree he'd been sitting in and jumped to the ground. He had 15 minutes to get to the Hall. Sliding his arms through his jacket, he took off at a run.   
  
A few minutes later, his heart started to pound. Heero gritted his teeth in irritation. Only six minutes of jogging and he was already out of breath… He stopped to rest for a while, hoping that his heart rate would go back to normal soon. Taking the opportunity to look around, Heero was surprised to find himself in front of a cemetery.   
  
He narrowed his eyes. His heart-pounding…would it have anything to do with the cemetery? No… It wasn't as if though he was superstitious or anything… But then why did his heart start hammering as soon as he was within range of the graveyard?  
  
A while later, his heart had stilled and he took a careful step forward. A gasp ripped out of his throat as his heart started to act up again. Though he was reluctant to accept it, he knew there was something within the gloom of the cemetery. And he was the one to find it out.  
  
Taking in a deep breath, Heero pushed the metal gate open and walked into the yard. He shivered. Superstitious or not, there was something ominous inside. He looked around him, but the only thing besides the various tombstones and crosses was a huge tree. From the looks of it, it had been dead for a while. 'How fit, for a decaying tree to grace the garden of the dead,' he thought wryly.  
  
He walked down the half-hidden dirt path. Keeping his eyes wide for anything out of the ordinary, he examined the smaller paths that lead from the main road to the tombstones that lined the cemetery. He was a row off the last one when a raven cried somewhere nearby.   
  
Heero looked up at the sky. A bird with jet-black feathers flew overhead and landed on a branch of the tree. It cocked its head and stared at Heero. "Craw!" it cawed, showing its gray tongue. He glared at it. Lifting its wings, the raven suddenly swept out of its perch and headed straight for Heero. Startled, he took a step back. The bird missed his face by an inch.   
  
"Damn." Heero picked up a stone, ready for another attack. The raven turned around in midair and hovered for a few moments. Then, lowering its head, it plunged.   
  
This time, however, it didn't go for Heero. Instead, it flew low over the ground of the last path. When it came back up into the sky, it was carrying something white in its beak. Heero threw his stone. Whatever it had in its beak, the raven probably had no right to it. The rock struck the bird square between its wings, and it let out a squawk, dropping the object in the process.  
  
The raven turned around and stared at Heero indignantly. He picked up another stone. The bird let out a last caw, then turned and disappeared in a flurry of wings.   
  
As soon as he was satisfied that the bird was gone, Heero walked over to where the object now lay, gleaming in the afternoon sun. He picked it up. Two dark holes stared up at him, and he almost dropped it in his surprise.   
  
He caught hold of himself and gave himself a mental slap. 'It's just a skull.' Bringing the bone up to his face, Heero examined it more closely. How strange. It wasn't a human skull at all, but more of an animal's. A dog's, probably. The question was, what in the world was a dog's skull doing in a human's graveyard?  
  
On even closer examination though, skull was too wide to have belonged to a dog; a mastiff, maybe, but definitely not any type of dog seen around that part of Earth. Maybe the lab could find something out… Carefully, he tucked the skull into a bag he had brought with him and walked out. The convention was going to start soon. 


	7. Chapter 6

"…And thanks to Ms. Relena Peacecraft, we have managed to overcome these difficulties," droned the man at the head of the table. Duo looked up from his doodling as Heero walked in.   
  
"You're late," he whispered helpfully as Heero seated himself in the chair next to Duo.   
  
"Hn." Across the table, Relena narrowed her eyes as she saw Heero. Then she smoothed her features and smiled at him. Duo looked at her, then back at Heero.   
  
"She likes you."  
  
Heero glanced sharply at Duo. "What?"  
  
The American grinned and leaned back against his chair. "She likes you." At the blank look he received, he went on. "You know. A crush? Falling in love?" Heero's eye started to twitch in irritation, and Duo grinned again.   
  
Heero snuck a look at Relena. She was listening intently to the speaker. Turning back, he glared at Duo, who shrugged and smirked, then made doe eyes at him. "Oh Heee~eeerooooo."   
  
His glare intensified. "Omae o korasu."   
  
Duo smirked again. "Ha. Shinigami's afraid of no one."  
  
Heero exhaled noisily. The stupid guy sitting next to him was starting to get on his nerves…no point in listening to him anymore. Instead, he contented himself on gazing across the table, where Relena sat. He could feel Duo's amused glance fixed on him. Well, who cared what the idiot thought.   
  
A few minutes later, Relena turned her head slightly, caught Heero looking at her, and grinned. A light came into her eyes, almost playful. Heero blinked. There was something else… No. It was his imagination. The back of his eyes started to itch suddenly, and he blinked a few more times. Relena's eyes brightened even more. The itching stopped.   
  
Heero started to look away. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Relena hide a smile behind an elegant hand and he felt a warmth crawl up his neck and his face. Duo's smirk widened. "You're blushing…you like her too. Double ha!"  
  
Heero glared, but no matter how hard he tried, the warmth wouldn't leave his face. In fact, it seemed to intensify. He finally just buried his face in his cupped hands and waited for the speeches to be over. 


End file.
